Rail-joint-adjusting device



F. V. CARMAN.

RAIL JOINT ADJUSTING DEV'ICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY'G, 1920.

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APPLICATION FILED JULY 6. 1920.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

' 2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

INVENTOR. v I 2 1 41;. Z X I M u ATTORNEYS.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK V. CARMAN, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

BAIL-JOINT-ADJUSTING DEVICE.

Application filed July 6, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I FRANK V. CARMAN, a citizen of the United k tates,residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRail-Joint-Adjusting Devices, of which the following 1s a specification.

My invention relates to a device for adjusting railway rail points bymoving the rails in a lengthwise direction in order to vary the spacebetween their meeting ends.

The object of the invention is to provide a portable device which can beeasily applied to a pair of alined rails, and by meanspf which a rail,or a series of connected rails, may be conveniently and effectivelymoved lengthwise, to open or close the joints, or spaces between theirmeeting ends.

It is frequently necessary, in rallway maintenance, to adjust the jointsbetween alined consecutive rails. The rails have a tendency to creep, inuse, partly from the effects of linear expansion and contraction, due tochanges in temperature, and partly from the jarring of passing trains,particularly on grades. Such creeping results 1n the closing of somejoints and the opening of others, both of which are objectionable, forwhen the oints become too close, further expansion or creeping resultsin buckling and spreading of the rails, and when the joints are toowide,- the adjacent ends of the rails on either side of the joints aredam aged by the pounding of passing wheels. By 7 means'of my device,however, a rail, or a series of connected rails, may be easily movedlengthwise, to adjust the joint to the proper width. In fact, it hasbeen found by experiment, that as many as five connected rails ofstandard length may be moved at one time.

My device may be used either to push adjacent rails apart, to open thejoint, or to pull them together to close the joint. The former operationis preferable, however, for an ac-' count of the construct1on of thedevice, as

will be more fully described hereinafter, it

is capable of exerting greater force when pushing.

My invention will now be fullydescribed Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 394,099.

. one of the clamps. l In the drawings, the reference numerals 1designate two adjacent alined rails, separated by a oint 2. 3, in Fig.1, are the ties Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

on which the rails rest, and 4 is one of the usual fish-plates joiningthe ends of the rails 1, and secured thereto by bolts 5 and nuts 6 inthe usual manner.

The device embodying my invention comprises a pair of similar clamps,adapted to be fitted to the heads of-the rails 1, one on each side ofthe joint 2. Each clamp, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, is formed of' twosymmetrical and oppositely disposed members 7, diverging in bothdirections from a loosely fitting transverse bolt 8 which holds saidmembers together. The upper end portions of the members 7 are formed ashandles 9, and the lower portions as jaws 10 adapted to engage the headof the rail 1. A slip band 11, loosely fitted around the shanks of themembers '7, is adapted to hold the lower ends thereoftogether, to causethe V corresponding clamps by links 14. These links are preferablyformed with bifurcated ends, as shown, the outer ends being piv-:

otally connected with the clamp members 7 by the bolts 8, and the innerends being pivotally connected with the heads 13 by bolts 15. The clampmembers 7 are formed with seats 16, Fig. 2, against which the centerportions of the bifurcated ends of the links 14 may bear, and saidlinkshave similar bearings against the heads 13, as shown at 17, so that whensaid links are subjected to compression, the strain is taken upon saidabutting surfaces, and the bolts 8 and 15 are relieved from shearingstrains.

The heads 13 are preferably provided with spaced downwardly extendingguide lugs 18, Figs. 1 and 2, adapted to straddle the rail head andthereby hold the head 13 in position thereon. Said heads are furtherprovided with integrally formed nuts 19, one of which has a right-handthread and the other a left-hand thread. A turn-buckle screw 20, havingright and left-hand threaded ends, engages said nuts, so that turningsaid screw in one direction draws the heads together, and turning it inthe other direction forces them apart. The screw 20 is provided with acentral socketed head 21, into which a bar 22 may be inserted forturning. I

.In using the device, the slip bands 11 on the clamp members 7 are firstraised, and

said clamps are opened, by drawing the handles 9 together. Then the jaws10 are slipped over the heads of the rails 1. The shims 12 may be usedor not, as desired.

The slip bands 11 are then forced down over the shanks of the clampmembers 7, drawing the jaws 10 together to grip the rail heads. Theheads 13 are allowed to rest upon the rails, and the screw 20 is thenoperated to draw said heads together or force themapart. On account 01'?the length of the shanks of the clamp members 7, a sufiicient leverageisexerted upon the jaws 10 to cause them to firmly grip the rails withoutslipping.

If the device is to be used to open the rail joint, it will assume theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the heads 13 being held in contact withthe rails by the toggle effect exerted by the links 14 when undercompression. But if it is used to close the joint, 2'. c. for applyingtension instead of compression, the heads 13 will be lifted off therails, said heads and the links 14: assuming a straight line. Thisposition being obvious need not be shown'in the drawings.

On account of the before-mentioned shoul-- dered bearings between theends of the links 14 and the heads 13, and between said ends and theclamp members 7 whereby the bolts 8 and 15 are relieved of shearingstrains, the device is capable ofexerting a considerably greater amountof force when under compression than when under tension, be-

cause when under tension the entire strain fallsupon said bolts 8 and15.

I claim 1. A rail-joint adjusting device comprising a pair of oppositelydisposed clamps for engaging the alined rails, one on each sideof thejoint; a pair of oppositely disposed heads lying between the clamps; a

heads lying between the clamps; a right hand threaded nut associatedwith one head and a left-hand threaded nut associated with the otherhead; a "link connecting each head with its corresponding clamp; and aright and left hand threaded screw fitted in said nuts for forcing theheads apart and drawing them together whereby the rails are moved toadjust their joint. 7

3. A rail-joint adjusting device compris ing a pair ofoppositely'disposed clamps for engaging the alined rails, one on eachside or the joint; a pair of oppositely disposed heads lying between theclamps, said heads having guide lugs laterally fitting the rail head anda neck portion internally threaded, the threads of one neck portionbeing right hand and those of the other lefthand; a right and left handthreaded screw fitted in said'threaded neck portions respectively; and alink connecting each head with its corresponding clamp.

4. A rail-joint adjusting device comprising a pair of oppositelydisposed clamps, having jaws adapted to laterally embrace the heads ofthe rails and to cramp thereon under strain in the line of the raillength, pivotally conected shanks and aicontrolling slip band seated onsaidshanks; a pair of oppositely disposed heads lying between theclamps, said heads having guide lugs laterally fitting the rail head; alink connecting each head with the upper portion of the shanks of thecorresponding clamps; and means associated with the heads to force themapart and to draw them together.

5. A rail-joint adjusting device comprising a pair of oppositelydisposed clamps,

having jaws adapted to laterally embrace the heads of the rails and tocramp thereon under strain in the line of the rail length,

pivotally connected shanks, and a conof the shanks of its correspondingclamp;

and a right and left-hand screw fitted in the nuts of said heads toforce them apart and to draw them together.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. I

FRANK V. CARMAN.

